The ESADE MBA Blog · ESADE Business School · Barcelona

By First-Year MBA Student Stephen Broadbent

I touched down in the land of the Celtic Tiger with overcast skies and an appetite for Guinness stew. Our 15 ESADE MBA techies were in Dublin this week to explore the city’s technology hubs in hopes of unraveling some of the mystery around how this little island off Europe’s Atlantic coast has become the region’s technology powerhouse. And of course a little fruitful networking was part of the plan as well. We were all curious about the unique position Ireland has created for itself and how it has been faring amidst its more recent troubles to recover from the economic crisis of the last few years. What I found was a strange brew of old and new and a resilient culture clearly committed to staying the course toward development and progress.

Ireland has some powerful economic advantages that attract the world’s top tech firms, which go far beyond the tax incentive draw that often tops the news. Its proximity to the rest of Europe gives foreign firms an easy launch pad to do business in the region. Just as important, its English speaking and highly educated population create an ideal bridge for the likes of Google, Oracle and other leading companies to extend their influence across the Atlantic. It was no surprise during our whirlwind of company visits to encounter great hospitality and professionalism at every turn.

Over two days our ESADE crew visited the offices of Oracle, Symantec, Facebook, Google and Yahoo!. It was interesting to see seasoned players like Oracle and Google juxtaposed with the new kid, Facebook, which was still putting paint on the walls of its newly built offices when we arrived. The Facebook crowd was a buzz with a youthful and somewhat chaotic zeal and they were clearly ramping up for EMEA growth. Oracle offered a more traditional corporate environment with a definite sales angle for its Dublin operations. Yahoo! seemed to be holding its breath a little with a recent CEO change and corporate alliance with Microsoft’s Bing hot off the press. Symantec was, perhaps predictably, secretive about its internal goings on, though we were pretty mesmerized by its funky state-of-the-art facility. But to no one’s surprise, Google rocked the show with its vibrant blend of fun and creativity mixed with serious dedication to business. Google’s attractiveness as an innovator notwithstanding, the perks and work environment were a bounty that any MBA would envy. As we toured the Google offices, our guide, the boisterous Jane Murphy, left us salivating with images of complementary meals and in-house massage therapy, a games room on every floor, a quiet space filled with beanbag chairs for afternoon siestas, a traditional Irish pub…even a flight simulator! And with 3000 employees in Dublin, Google is clearly the dominant player out here.

Of course, the trek also served to bring our group of techy wannabees closer together over our shared aspirations to pursue careers in technology. It was amazing to see this common thread stretch across such a diverse group. In true ESADE style we represented Japan, Israel, Greece, Canada, USA, Taiwan, India, and Spain and our backgrounds ranged from engineering and IT to publishing to consulting. The evenings brought plenty of hearty food and warm Celtic music to stave off the bitter winter chill and we raised more than a few pints of Guinness to each other and our collective futures. Dublin’s charming old stone architecture and layered history actually left me feeling a strange sense of nostalgia. I think it was a familiarity to Irish culture migrated to my home in Canada mixed with school hood memories of great Irish stories by the likes of Joyce, Becket and Shaw. Dublin’s culture is rich, to be sure. And it has been made richer by its rise as a tech hub. There is an optimism here, despite the very real impact of the recession on the people’s lives. While much of the economy is struggling in Ireland as in the rest of Europe, one thing is certainly clear, the tech sector is booming and tech companies are in Dublin to stay.

By First Year MBA Student Blake Larson

Before going to Saudi Arabia, I mostly associated the country with desert, oil, and Muslims. So when the opportunity arose to join my fellow students and Professor Javier Solana on a business tour of this relatively closed country, I was eager to see it with my own eyes and live the culture in person.

On paper, our agenda was overwhelming. We traveled constantly, seeing 3 cities in 7 days. Visits to some of the country’s largest companies (Saudi Aramco, Subic, and The Bin Laden Group) and universities (Princess Nora, KAUST) as well as several cultural events allowed us to sleep only 4-5 hours per night. But every minute of every day was unforgettable. The companies and universities that we visited had incredible facilities and their leaders showed vision for the future along with an acute awareness of the present. This was true as much of the boardroom at Princess Nora University as of the Aramco drilling room where we watched technicians hunt for oil.

We also saw the incredible beauty of the desert during a day of camping, Bedouin-style. It is hard to fathom the desolate desert, with camels roaming in the distance, while we raced 4×4 vehicles in the sand. Saudis head to the desert to spend meaningful time with friends and family away from the demands of everyday life. Our experience was similar, though we took some creature comforts with us in the form of satellite TV, table tennis, and shisha!

Seeing Saudi Arabia was at times eye-opening, especially in terms of how society truly revolves around Islam. Outside of their homes, women wear abayas. The shops close during prayer times. It would be difficult for me to assimilate in this society but I grew to have an incredible appreciation and respect for how rooted in faith the Saudis are.

I want to highlight the role of the Saudi people in making the tour so incredible. Regardless of whether we were touring the Ras Tanura refinery, discussing urban planning for Riyadh at the Al Faisaliah Center, or visiting the family home of our Saudi MBA colleagues, we were welcomed as old friends. Everyone went out of their way to make sure we had an enjoyable and productive trip (and to ensure we were extraordinarily well fed!). People truly opened their hearts to us. For this, I can never be thankful enough and could only hope to repay the same kindness if given the opportunity.

I acknowledge, of course, that Saudi Arabia is not perfect. Despite tremendous growth in infrastructure (The King Abdullah Financial Center), and huge investment in education (Princess Nora University, KAUST, King Saud University), the economy is still driven by the oil industry. Based on traffic in Riyadh, growing inequality and high young adult unemployment, perhaps the development has not been perfectly sustainable. But Saudi is still a young country and hopefully it can learn through its mistakes to emerge as the face of the Middle East.

In concluding I want to reiterate that seeing Saudi Arabia with my MBA colleagues was the experience of a lifetime. Most importantly, the trip served as a reminder that the world continues to shrink and that we all share more in common than we have different. To my Saudi friends, thank you with all my heart and Yalla Saudi!

Click to see photos from the MBA Saudi Trek

This weekend I was fortunate to go to the Global Sports Forum as part of a delegation from the Sports Business Club in the MBA Program. These kinds of VIP events are one of the perks of being an Esade student. I also went to this year’s edition of the Brandery, a fashion show, and many of my colleagues attended the Mobile World Congress, which is one of the world’s biggest trade fairs.

As an American, the moment I enjoyed the most at the Global Sports Forum was a panel that included the NBA’s EVP for Global Marketing Partnerships, Mark Tatum. Tatum spoke about the NBA’s profound globalization: games are broadcast in 200+ countries (and hundreds have now been staged abroad); 77 foreign players have passed through the league, from 30-some different countries. Linsanity’s viral spread, for instance, is owed in great part not to Facebook but to the Chinese Weibo! Tatum said he is flooded with calls from Chinese brands wanting to ink a sponsorship deal with Lin or the Knicks. In an era where companies are judged by their foothold in growing markets, the NBA is a gold standard.

Why is this globalization good for the NBA? First, revenue. More TV deals, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and the option to do summer tours. And second, talent. The NBA is simply putting out a better product post globalization. The sportswriter Bill Simmons recently said the league has 3 times as many marketable stars as it did 20 years ago. This means sustained quality; the alternative, relying on the megastars of the past like Jordan, Bird, and Magic, is risky because you never know when they will come along.

If only I had been able to get to the forum on Thursday; speakers included Manchester United legend Eric Cantona and American football player Justin Tuck.

This afternoon was the last session for Javier Solana’s class on Geopolitics and Global Governance for the MBA Program. Solana, the former Secretary-General of the EU, comes to Esade about once a month to lead this class. Today’s session dealt with the Middle East and the invited guest was Jean-Pierre Filiu from Sciences Po.

Professors Solana and Filiu described the Middle East today as a continuum of stability. On one end, Turkey has a 7% growth rate and a flourishing democratic society. On the other, Iran uses violence to mask its weakness and maintain control. And in the middle is the Arab Spring.

Professor Filui is confident that the Middle East, “fascinated” by Turkey, clamors for democracy.  Two things stem the tide in his view: first, the inter-faith divide between Sunnis and Shias, which has absorbed even cosmopolitan Muslim societies like Lebanon. And second, the tendency of oil to create entrenched elites who keep the simmer from coming to a boil. Notably, Tunisia, which ignited the Arab Spring, does not have oil. Another factor, one might suppose from Solana’s recent blog entry on the subject, is the ambivalent position of heavyweight China towards promoting democracy in the Middle east.

In a previous class, Solana told us his views about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Iran will continue its slow but steady progress towards nuclear weapons, he said. After Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia would likely feel pressured to join the club, and would have no problem buying the knowledge from Pakistan. It’s a scary prediction, even if the détente argument in theory would prevent everyone from actually using nuclear weapons.

It’s always an honor for the MBA students to spend time with Solana. Warm and quick-witted, he’s part of a historic generation of European diplomats. He recently accompanied a group of 28 MBA students on a business tour of Saudi Arabia. We’ll soon be posting an account of that trip from one of the participants.

[Update] A clip from Professor Solana’s Middle East lecture has been posted on Esade TV.